1. Field
The present invention generally relates to multi-media program viewing, and more specifically to methods and systems for providing instant reverse play during video playback.
2. Background
Personal video recorders (PVRs), digital video recorders (DVRs), set-top-boxes and other similar consumer electronic devices provide so called trick modes to navigate recorded media contents, such as audio/video data, while such contents are being played back. The trick modes include, for example, fast forward and backward and slow motion at various speeds. These trick modes are analogous to ones available in analog devices like the VCRs. The trick modes let the user navigate the media contents beside the normal play. Those trick modes are useful features to have in a device for program viewing.
A number of methods for reversing the DCT-based (discrete cosine transform) motion compensated predictive coding video stream are commonly known in the art. Some of these methods include decoding the key frames (Intra-coded frames) and subsequent predictive frames (non-Intra-coded frames) in memory and then reversing them before such frames are displayed. In these methods, there is a definite delay before the reverse play action starts. This is due to the fact that group of pictures (GOPs) are decoded, stored and then displayed.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that is capable of, amongst other things, minimizing delay when reverse play is initiated.